Transparency News, 10/7/2022
Friday
October 7, 2022
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state & local news stories
"It defies notions of open government for a governor or an agency to announce broad programs and then close off avenues for citizens and taxpayers to gain any insight into their formulation or application."
The Virginia Employment Commission is working with law enforcement to uncover a far-reaching fraud case in which about 4,200 unemployment insurance claims might have been compromised, the agency reported this week. The VEC, however, offered no specifics about the financial crimes, including how much money was at stake or the time frame in which the fraud occurred, and said in a release it would not provide any additional information.
The Virginian-Pilot
The Virginia Department of Education refused to release more than 300 pages of documents and emails related to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's proposed policies regarding transgender students. VPM News requested drafts of the new model guidelines along with correspondence related to those drafts. VPM News also requested emails sent or received by Jillian Balow, the state superintentant of public instruction, containing the word “transgender” from Aug. 1 - Sept. 19. The department charged $125 for the search and claimed that 87 out of the 90 relevant records were fully excluded under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, which exempts working papers of the governor from public release. That exemption allows officials to release the records at their discretion. The rejection is the latest instance of the Youngkin administration shielding records of its work from public scrutiny. “It defies notions of open government for a governor or an agency to announce broad programs — much ballyhooed and applicable in every corner of the state — and then close off avenues for citizens and taxpayers to gain any insight into their formulation or application,” said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, in an email.
VPM
A new report from an auditor raises questions over the financial accountability of King William County’s treasurer’s office. County Administrator Percy Ashcraft confirmed Treasurer Mary Sue Bancroft resigned, effective Sept. 23. Deputy Treasurer Abbi Carlton was appointed interim treasurer by a Circuit Court judge until a special election is held on March 7. More than two years ago, a report from the same firm found nearly $2 million of uncollected real estate taxes, numerous bank accounts at multiple banks and treasury employees handling taxpayer dollars without supervision. Former treasurer Harry Whitt retired in 2020. Hawkins also highlighted a state compliance issue related to the school board. The auditor said when the school board advertised the public hearing for its budget, it failed to place an announcement in a public newspaper. “The Code of Virginia still says you are supposed to do that, put it in an advertisement. They advertised on the website, not the newspaper, so we had to report the finding on that."
Daily Press
stories of national interest
After more than a year of litigation, Austin’s state court opened a review queue Monday that allows journalists to report on e-filed civil complaints as they are received. The on-receipt standard of public access now provided in Austin’s main state court, Travis County District Court, reflects the old standard for paper-filed complaints in Texas where journalists checked the stack of new complaints in a box on or behind the counter. It is also the standard of access in the U.S. District Court in Austin where First Amendment litigation against the Texas director of court administration is on hold. Clerks and administrators fighting for delays in access often claim they need to review filings for confidential information. But, as U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel pointed out, that responsibility lies with the filing lawyer. Referring to civil complaints, called petitions in Texas, Yeakel said: “It came in, it was pushed across the counter, it got file-marked with a hand stamp. And if a member of the press happened to be standing there and said ‘I really want a copy of that,’ they'd make that copy right away. Nobody looked at it to see if there was a problem or anything. That was the lawyer's problem.”
Courthouse News Service
editorials & columns
"We don’t do it that way, and if we’re being honest, everyone in Richmond knows that."
Governments are allowed to keep certain sensitive business secret, but it’s on them to justify why the secrecy is important enough to deviate from the norm of giving the public access to public information. We don’t do it that way, and if we’re being honest, everyone in Richmond knows that. In practice, Virginia government too frequently operates as if the Freedom of Information Act were reversed: Secrecy is the norm, and it’s the public who has the burden of justifying why the state should deviate from that and make documents open and accessible. Here’s how it stands in Virginia. The General Assembly isn’t subject to FOIA laws. You have no right to see lawmakers’ emails, correspondence or other internal business. Judges aren’t subject to FOIA. The State Corporation Commission, which oversees utilities, banking, insurance and other business-related sectors, isn’t subject to FOIA. The governor’s office and the Office of the Attorney General technically are, but secrecy exemptions written into FOIA have been construed so broadly that they routinely block the release of information on tenuous grounds.
Sarah Vogelsong, Virginia Mercury
